The Silver Leaf

Once upon a time, there was a tree with silver leaves. The tree was the largest of them all. The people that lived near the tree were elated as they collected the leaves of the tree. Since the leaves were made of silver, the people would gather up the leaves and sell them to other people all around the world. These leaves were their only source of income, as they were a very poor village.

One day, as the people were collecting the leaves, it began to rain acid. The people ran into their homes. The acid rain was very heavy and slowly, the tree began to drop its leaves. When they hit the ground, they disolved as soon as they landed. The leaves continued to drop until the rain stopped, and the tree had no more leaves left on it. The people came out of their homes and began to weep at the loss of the tree's leaves. The leader decided that since the tree could not produce leaves anymore, they were going to make a house out of the tree. The people thought this was a brilliant idea and began right away. They took the silver leaves and they melted them, making silver tools for the project. The people began to drill holes in the tree for windows, doors, and hollowing out the inside.

After a few years, the project was finally complete. The tree had a big and beautiful door, completed with a staircase going up the tree. The inside of the tree had carvings all over the walls, of nature and spirits. No one lived in the tree, but it was such a wonderful site. The people were depressed that the leaves were gone, but their masterpiece motivated them to continue on.

Many years have passed since the loss of the silver leaves. The people always took care of the tree, dusting and polishing the inside of it. On a warm summer day, the people were cleaning the tree. As one of the children were walking past the tree, he noticed something shiny in the grass. He picked it up to discover it was a silver leaf. The boy's friend laughed at him, and told him to sell it somewhere, which would make him rich, but the boy had heard stories about the tree of silver leaves before. The boy left his friend, and ran to the leader's hut.

He brought the leaf to the leader. "Wow! I haven't seen one of these since many years ago. The ancient spirits have given us a second chance!"

The leader shared this new information with the people. They hosted a party to celebrate the finding of the silver leaf. The boy told the villagers that they could plant this leaf in the former trees' earth and that a new tree will grow.

The people dug up the dirt and placed it in a spot that they decided. After planting this silver leaf, they continued their celebration.

As the leaf grew into a tree, the people began to feel happy once more. They haven't felt like this since they finished working on the former tree.

It took many more years until the tree started to sprout its silver leafs. By that time, the leader was old and ill. His time was almost up.

On his death bed, he asked to see the new tree one last time.

His helpers brought him to the tree, one last time.

The boy came too.

"Son, you have provided this village many years of success. You are now the leader of the people. Don't worry if you make a mistake, just remember how you discovered the silver leaf, and all will be right with the world"

And with that, the leader looked down upon the boy, with pride in his starry eyes.